Lucky

I don’t want to jinx anything, but I have been somewhat happy lately. The German word for happiness is the same as that for luck: Glück. That feels right.

Not sure why. Maybe I’m sleeping better.

Maybe it’s the phase of the moon. Austrians are strongly affected by lunar phases. The moon is currently full, and the road to work was full of crazy asshats this morning. Either the full moon turns about 25% of Austrians into really bad drivers, or it makes me cranky, impatient and hypercritical.

I think it’s sleep, though. I have a phobia of going senile. After observing the process in two relatives, I have the feeling that there are aspects of the onset of senility that one notices about oneself and either accepts or denies, and there are (and this is maybe worse) aspects that one does not perceive. And I have noticed myself forgetting words and names. I tell myself that I have done this all my life and it is just the fact that I am 50 that I connect it with senile dementia, but one still worries. And I did get all flustered at the music store recently and buy a stack of sheet music that I had eliminated, and neglected to buy the notes I wanted, and had to go back the next day and exchange, but that can happen to anyone, right?

And now that I am sleeping, I feel less confused. So there’s that. And there is also the thought that maybe part of my problem is that I’m surrounded by so many sharp people. There are all you smart people reading this. There are all my smart friends. Many of you belong to both groups, of course. There are the women in my family who have been kicking ass lately. Gamma, who turns 13 in a few days, was at the doctor recently for a checkup with her sister and her mother, where the following conversation ensued:

Doctor: Und was hast du für Beschwerden, Gamma? (What complaints (symptoms) do you have, Gamma?)

Gamma: Ich kriege viel zu wenig Taschengeld! (My allowance is way too low!)

Anyhow. Maybe I need to watch Fox News for awhile until I start feeling smarter.

One response to “Lucky

  1. gordon

    Sleep is good for you. It causes happiness. It prevents you from seeing the small men hiding in the bottom rack of your shopping cart. If you do not sleep, you cannot escape Keanu Reeves by crawling through the oven and onto the moon.

    Sleep may not prevent senility. The evidence is inconclusive.

    I have a fear of insomnia. I am afraid that I will listen to other people talk about their insomnia and catch it from them. I am afraid that I will forget how to sleep and find myself miserably watching Shakeweight commercials en espanol at 3am. That Keanu Reeves will catch me.

    So if you get insomnia, don’t tell me about it. And I won’t tell you about my senility. Even though I lost my security badge twice this week, then found the second lost one and, thinking it was its replacement, tried to use it, only to have to get a third one because that one had been deactivated.